Oxygen lance with helical cooling coil



Oct. 31, 1967 D. N. MANTON 3,350,080

- OXYGEN LANCE WITH HELICAL COOLING COIL Filed June 1, 1964 Mrs/V7016 ,poqqzjs %?H44 MAM/TOM Patented Oct. 31, 1967 3,350,080 OXYGEN LANCE WITH HELICAL COOLING COIL Douglas Norman Manton, 235 Ulverley Green Road, Olton, Solihull, England Filed June 1, 1964, Ser. No. 371,555 Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 22, 1963,

1 Claim. (Cl. 266--34) This invention relates to lances which are used, for example, for blowing oxygen onto the surface of a melt in an open hearth furnace.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new or improved form of oxygen lance in which means are provided for controlling the rate of flow of oxygen through the outlet of the lance onto the surface of the melt. It is a further object of the present invention a to provide an oxygen lance in which the stream of oxygen issuing through the outlet of the lance is divergent. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of the end of one form of oxygen lance, and

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the end of an alternative form of oxygen lance.

The lance shown in FIGURE 1 includes an outer casing consisting of three co-axial tubes 11, 12 and 13, an end portion 14 and six radial fins formed integrally with the end portion 14. The end portion 14 is welded to the innermost tube 13 and to the outermost tube 11 and the intermediate tube 12 is welded to the six fins 15. The passageways between the tubes define a water return channel.

A water supply pipe 16 is disposed centrally of the outer casing 10 and a steel head or nose 17 which is circular in plan view is provided at the end of the water supply pipe 16. There is a helical coil 18 inter-connecting the water supply pipe 16 and the outer casing 10, the head or nose 17 being formed with a U-shaped communicating passage 19. The helical coil 18 is conveniently formed either from a copper-chromium alloy or from stainless steel and the head or nose 17 is so shaped as to prevent the first spiral of the helical coil 18 being damaged by spluttering of steel being lanced.

Oxygen is supplied through the annular passage defined by the innermost tube 13 and the water supply pipe 16 and passes in a divergent stream between the spirals of the helical coil 18. The total area of the outlet i.e. the area of the helical gap between the spirals of the helical coil can be varied by adjusting the position of the water supply pipe 16 by means of a screw mechanism extending through the lance which can be operated either by manual or remote control. By varying the area of the outlet the speed of the supply of oxygen is varied inversely for a given rate of feed.

The oxygen lance shown in FIGURE 2 is similar to that shown in FIGURE 1 and includes an outer casing 10 comprising co-axial tubes 11, 12 and 13, an end portion 14 and fins 15, a Water supply pipe 16, a head 17 on the end of pipe 16- and a helical coil 18 interconnecting pipe 16 and the water return passages in the outer casing.

In this embodiment, however, the area of theoutlet is adapted to be varied only prior to use and not during use and a bracket 20 to which a cylindrical support 21 is attached is welded to the inside of the innermost tube 13. The support 21 surrounds a portion 22 of the Water supply pipe 16 and this portion 22 of pipe 16 is externally screw-threaded for engagement with a nut 23 which bears against the end of the support 21, the helical coil 18 urges the pipe in one direction so as to maintain the nut 23 against the support 21 and upon rotation of the nut 23 the pipe 16 is moved axially so as either to increase or decrease the area of the outlet constituted by the helical gap between the spirals of coil 18.

What I claim is:

An oxygen lance which includes an oxygen supply passageway terminating in an outlet, a water supply tube disposed centrally of the oxygen supply passageway, an outer casing containing a water return passageway, a helical coil connecting said supply tube and said return passageway and wherein the outlet is defined by the helical gap between the spirals of the helical coil and the area of the outlet being variable by adjustment of the axial position of the water supply tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,394,497 2/1946 Steudel 266-41 3,223,398 12/ 1965 Bertram et a1. 266-34 3,241,825 3/1966 Jilek et al. 266-34 J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner. WILLIAM J. STEPHENSON, Examiner. E. MAR, Assistant Examiner. 

